The Starkville Board of Aldermen met last Tuesday night in the City Hall Courtroom for its regularly scheduled meeting at 5:30 p.m.
Ward 5 Alderman Scott Maynard began the meeting by scheduling a recess meeting for Feb. 12 to be held at the Renassaince Bank. Maynard said the singular purpose of the meeting, would be to discuss capital improvements. Vice Mayor and Ward 6 Alderman Roy Perkins questioned the necessity of the meeting, but ultimately did not object to it. 
After Maynard’s motion passed, Ward 2 Alderman Lisa Wynn added two items: to change the city’s health insurance provider agent and to the disbursement of the animal ordinance. The additions passed with no discussion or objection, which is notable as in the past few months the Board has opposed late additions to the agenda. 
Ward 3 Alderman David Little wanted to move the budget committee reformation item to the consent portion of the agenda. As of now, the budget committee has comprised only of three out of the seven Aldermen. The reformation would see it expanded to all seven members of the Board. 
After the alterations to the agenda were finalized, Mayor Parker Wiseman introduced three new police officers and two new firemen. 
The Starkville Fire Department’s Chief Roger Mann officially announced he will retire Feb. 22 after 32 years of service. He spoke about the changes he has seen in Starkville during his career and stated when he began, five active fire cases in a week was considered common. Now, Mann said there are only five active fire cases in a year. 
During the citizen comment phase, a Ward 4 resident stated that as  residential development down South Montgomery street continues, so too should road improvements increase to balance out the rise in traffic.
The Starkville Area Arts Council made a public appearance to ask for assistance in getting a downtown arts center. The SAAC, the group of people behind events such as the annual Cotton District Arts Festival, currently works out of a single office located in the Greater Starkville Development Partnership building.
The next item on the agenda was the BOA takeover of the Starkville Parks and Recreation department. The parks department has been in the red financially, so the BOA plans on taking over their operations and making the Parks board an advisory board to the BOA as opposed to a completely autonomous unit. 
After several alterations to the wording of the takeover were made, Perkins suggested tabling the parks issue so the language of the motion could be refined. The Board went into recess while City Attorney Chris Latimer could do some quick research, and after it reconvened the matter was postponed until Feb. 12.
The Greater Starkville Development Partnership asked for control over the Fire Station Park on with the intent on moving the community market to that location. The motion passed unanimously.
According to a Starkville Dispatch article by Carl Smith, there was a potential change in insurance agents, as called for by Wynn. Wiseman said handling it in this way was inappropriate as the agent has been an employee for 18 years and said he should at least be given an interview.  
Latimer suggested taking the matter into executive session but the Board decided against this. Wynn motioned to postpone the discussion for now and suggested the agent in question be invited to attend. The Board unanimously approved the Starkville Library receiving a “Read” sculpture installation. 
Smith also reported in his article that during the executive session, the Board disciplined several firefighters and public works members and also agreed to dispense backpay to police dispatchers.